On the heels of RBC’s 2013 provincial forecast upgrade (with Halifax being the epicentre of this growth) and Halifax’s unemployment rate dropping to its lowest rate since December 2008, CIBC has ranked Halifax 4th (up from 7th) out of 25 cities in its Metropolitan Economic Activity Index. While the city doesn’t lead any of the categories, it has a steady enough performance in all of them to boost its ranking.

In particular, the labour market has improved, boosting employment levels to their highest levels in history. This employment growth has been predominantly full-time work too, as the percentage of total employment that is full-time has crept above 80%. Furthermore, increases in housing starts and MLS sales show that the housing market in Halifax is seeing lots of action.

What is the takeaway from all of this good news? For me, it’s feeling confident about our economy. We saw stable growth throughout the recession, a feat few others can attest to. Now, we’re seeing more and more reasons to be confident in our economic future.

Why is confidence so important? Confidence is the lifeblood of the economy. With it, businesses invest and become more productive and consumers spend more liberally. There are a number of reasons to be confident in Nova Scotia’s short and long-term prospects. From Halifax Shipyard being Canada’s Shipbuilders for the next 30 years, to Shell bidding nearly $1 billion on exploration drilling off of southwest Nova Scotia, there are big things on the horizon. In the short term, the economy continues to grow, our population is on the rise and more people are finding jobs every day...and, in the enduring words of Randy Bachman, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Author: David Fleming

David is the Junior Economist and Project Development Coordinator at the Greater Halifax Partnership. He studied Economics and Philosophy at the University of Prince Edward Island, and has experience working with private, public and non-profit organizations.